CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Villa Angela-St. Joseph junior Dererk Pardon won't be carrying his recruitment into his senior year. On Saturday, Pardon committed to Northwestern while on his second visit to the school.

Pardon, a 6-8 forward about to enter his senior season with the Vikings, averaged 11.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game as a junior. He won a state title with Villa Angela-St. Joseph in 2013 and helped them get to the title game in 2014.

Although he still has his senior season ahead of him, he already knows where he fits in with Northwestern.

"I can bring a lot of energy," Pardon said. "I can help inside and provide some leadership."

This is the second Northeast Ohio player to commit to Northwestern since Chris Collins took over as head coach in 2013. Westlake's Gavin Skelly is also a future Wildcat and will be joining the team this upcoming season.

Collins' determination to make Northwestern a winner and his background of coaching under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke appealed to Pardon.

However, there was more than just basketball that stuck out to Pardon when making his decision to commit to Northwestern.

"Academics are No. 1 for me, and they rank very high," Pardon said. "Also, the campus is beautiful and it's a major market."

This won't be the only Vikings player to commit to a Division I program soon. Fellow rising senior Carlton Bragg was just ranked No. 14 in the country for the Class of 2015 by ESPN, and Brian Parker is also receiving Division I interest.

Contact high school sports reporter David Cassilo by email (dcassilo@cleveland.com) or Twitter (@dcassilo). Or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.

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